September 11, 2025

We took this side trip to China with about 15 others from the Ship!

L to R - Gary, Me, Sarah, Colleen & John- next row Alex, MaryAnn, Sherie, Darrell, Phil - last row Chaz, Angela & Steve, Christy, Bosco & Bob. Most of us all booked the same flights, train to Shanghai and Hotels - safety & collaboration in numbers! Our Hotel, Guo Ji Yi Yuan  in BeiJing was at a great location, right in the heart of the city, zone 1, close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Walking around our first night we saw so much activity and tried our first Hot Pot, we were amateurs at how to do it! The menu was a giant photo coffee table book with pretty pictures and no English so we had to translate everything !! Pointing didn't work well here.

When we booked our hotel we didn't know it was 80th anniversary of China's Victory Day and that they would be shutting down the streets and attractions within zones 1 & 2 starting 9/1, for days, for a giant Military Parade on 9/3! We were told the day after our arrival 8/31, that we would most likely be confined to our Hotel for 24 hours, from 6 pm 9/2 to 9/3.

By Patricia Patrick February 15, 2026
We got up at 6:45am to get to National Park Forts Walk trail in the hope of seeing koalas . Prior walkers mark trails with tree branches pointing in the direction of their sighting and we were luck enough to see 3 markers in our first hour of hiking. It is so stinking hot and humid the success we had made it bearable. The koala population on the island started with 20 brought over in 1930, to escape fur hunters. Today, the island boast 800 to 1000, and they are so cute and drowsy. They need 20 hours of sleep a day! The early morning is when they are the most active.
By Patricia Patrick February 14, 2026
Just off the coast of Townsville, Australia is a special little island (that used to be part of mainland, hundreds of thousands years ago). The island was formed by molten granite that was pushed to the earth's surface with volcanic force.Over time the volcanic overlay weathered away leaving an extraordinary landscape of rounded domes and boulders, many as big as a house and spectcularly perched. Over Seventy Percent of the center of the Island is a National Park. There is lots of wildlife here too - koalas, rock wallabies, snakes & birds.
By Patricia Patrick February 14, 2026
This is my third time in CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA and I really enjoy how walkable, clean and charming it is. The waterfront esplanade and lagoon area is a nice walk day or night. We had 2 nights here in the waterfront Shangri La Marina Hotel while waiting for the Ship to arrive and then 2 additional days in Port.